Mat



G. GROSSMAN El AL 2,137,620

HAT

Filed Nov. 13, 1937 {6 I N VEN TORS WALLACE G. GROSfM/JN 4/10 HOWARD FIELD CARPENTER A TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES MAT Wallace G. Grossman and Howard Field Carpenter, White Plains, N. Y.

Application November 13, 1937, Serial No. 174,278

4 Claims.

Our present invention relates to mats or similar articles of manufacture.

One object of our invention is to provide a sturdy, wear resisting, easily cleanable mat, not 5 subject to warping and which will lie flat. A further object is to provide a mat which is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Heretofore, mats have been constructed of strips of such material as rubber or discarded tires alternated with complex spacers of the same 'or different material. Or, for example, they have been made up of a multiplicity of different sized and shaped elements. The obvious disadvantages in appearance and cost of manufacture of such mats are overcome by our improved mat construction.

According to our invention, the wearing elements and spacing elements of the mat are made up of strips of the same size. Some of the strips are twisted to serve as spacers and by binding together twisted and untwisted strips, we have found we can produce a mat not subject to the disadvantages referred to and havingall of the desirable features mentioned.

In the accompanying drawing, which shall be referred to in the further explanation of our invention, Figure 1 is a perspective, view of our improved mat and Figure 2 is a perspective view of a section of our mat as it may appear during construction. a

Our mat in its preferred form is manufactured of identical strips of material of rectangular cross section. As shown in the figures of the drawing, the mat is provided'with end pieces 2, 4 and 6, 8. 35 The end pieces are composed, as shown, of strips of material lying against each other. The number of strips in each end piece or edge section may be chosen at will; thus there may be used only one strip such as 4 and 6, there may be two in 40 each edge such as 2, 4 and6, 8 as shown, or there may be three or even more as desired.

The remainder of the matbetweenthe end pieces is made up of the parallel strips 12, alternated with the twisted strips l and M. The headed wires or rods 16 passing through suitable holes in the strips, serve to keep the matstrips or ribbons together.

The strips Ill and I4 may be twisted along their longitudinal axes in the same direction, but preferably, as illustrated, are twisted in opposite directions. Thus, as shown, assuming the left hand ends of the strips to be fixed, as viewed from the right hand side of the drawing, strips ID are twisted clockwise and strips I2 counterclockwise. Such alternate twisting serves to keep the mat fiat and from warping.

The mat is preferably made of strips or ribbons of the same size, thereby simplifying and minimizing the cost of manufacture. If desired, 5 however, the edges,2,'4 and 6, 8 may be made in one piece or of strips of one cross-sectional area, the strips l2 of another size, and the twisted strips l8, l4 of still another cross-sectional size and shape. In any event, the mat will be simpler to construct and clean relative to mats made up of more complex spacers and strips.

The strips may all be made of the same material such as fiat rubber stripping, strips cut from discarded automobile tires, leather, composition, etc. If desired, the edge strips may be of one material, the parallel strips ll. of another and the twisted strips I0 and I4 of still other materials.

The strips of the mat may be made identical as to length and hole spacing before assembly. The twist given to the strips does not appreciably misalign the holes and this slight misalignment usually is not objectionable as it tends to provide a firmer mat by increased frictional engagement with the holding wires [6. If this is not desired, the holes punched in the strips may be made a little larger in diameter than the wires l6.

Obviously, the number of twists per unit length of the twisted strips may be the same for each of the twisted strips or may differ in any way desired without departing from the scope of our invention. i Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A mat comprising a pair of edge strips, each edge strip comprising a pair of parallel strips of rectangular cross-section, a series of twisted strips, twisted along their longitudinal axes, between and parallel to said edge strips, strips of rectangular cross-section between said twisted strips, and rods or wires fastened through all of said strips for keeping them together, said alterhate twisted strips being twisted in the same direction, the other alternate twisted strips being twisted in anopposite direction, all of the aforementioned strips being made of rubber-like material.

2. A mat as defined in claim 1, characterized by the fact that all of said strips are strips cut from discarded automobile tires.

3. A mat comprising a pair of edge strips, each edge strip comprising a pair of parallel strips of rectangular cross-section, a series of twisted strips twisted along their longitudinal axis be- 55 tween and parallel to said edge strips, strips of rectangular cross-section between said twisted strips, and rods or wires fastened through all of said strips for keeping them together, and being characterized by the fact that alternate twisted strips are twisted in the same direction and that the other alternate twisted strips are twisted in an opposite direction.

4. A mat comprising a pair of edge strips, a

10 series of twisted strips twisted along their longitudinal axis between and parallel to said edge strips, strips of rectangular cross-section between said twisted strips, and rods or wires fastened through all of said strips for keeping them together, and being characterized by the fact that alternate twisted strips are twisted in the same direction and. that the other alternate twisted strips are twisted in an opposite direction.

' WALLACE G. GROSSMAN.

HOWARD FIELD CARPENTER. 

